The Korea Herald

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Ex-TV personality sentenced to 3 years in jail for repeated drug use

By Park Jun-hee

Published : Dec. 25, 2022 - 14:14

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Amy (Yonhap) Amy (Yonhap)

Amy Lee, a former TV entertainer who goes by her first name, has been sentenced to three years in prison, according to legal professionals and news reports Sunday.

The Supreme Court ruled for a three-year imprisonment for Lee for violating the Narcotics Control Act, they said.

Lee, who holds US citizenship, pleaded not guilty during the trial, saying she committed the crime “involuntarily” because of an accomplice surnamed Oh, although her innocence claim was rejected.

She was on trial for purchasing illegal drugs like methamphetamine, ketamine and ecstasy five times between February and August in 2021. That same year she was also charged for administering methamphetamine six times from April through August.

Police arrested Amy in August when she was purportedly on her way to purchase drugs. She has also been charged with drug trafficking.

The 40-year-old Korean American debuted as a TV actor in 2008. In 2012, she was arrested for using propofol, an anesthetic medication, and was sentenced to eight months in jail, suspended on two years of probation. In 2014, she was nabbed for excessive use of sleep inducer zolpidem, commonly sold under the brand Ambien. In 2015, the immigration office ordered her to leave the country for five years after being found guilty of drug offenses. She returned to Korea last year.